F1 2011 Review

Gentlemen, start your engines. Again.

But there's more to excelling in F1 2011 than just driving fast. Consistency is key. You need to find your maximum potential and get into a groove. Above all, it's a strategy game. You need to exploit track conditions; times at the end of qualifying will be quicker than at the beginning when the track is green. Tyre choice and management is paramount; F1 2011 now features full race weekends, so you get access to all three practice sessions. You need to carefully juggle your available tyre sets with a mind to not only qualify as high up the grid as possible but also save your freshest rubber for the race. You also need to be aware of debris on the track; deviating from the racing line will pick up marbles on your tyres. You need to be wary of mistreating your car lest you suffer a mechanical breakdown. You need to do a lot more than just squeeze the accelerator and point the car away from the walls.

You can't hit the safety car. We tried.

Codemasters has added a safety car this year, which is a fantastic feature. After a bad accident the safety car will come out for a few laps and pick up the leader, with the rest of the field bunching up behind. The safety car brings with it a whole new set of issues to remain across. Your engineer will tell you to change your fuel mix to save fuel while in the safety car queue. You have partial control while behind the safety car; you need to steer, accelerate and brake but the game will autobrake for you if you go too fast. You can also pit under the safety car for a tactical advantage. The safety car is a great addition, but you can turn it off if you choose. Events can also be red flagged. This happened only once to us, when we triggered an extensive pile up on the first corner at Monaco.

The most welcome feature Codemasters has added this year is the KERS and DRS systems. KERS is a mild power boost you can use basically once per lap, and DRS changes the angle of the car's rear-wing, reducing drag and increasing speed. The impact of KERS and DRS on your lap times will be minor (you'll notice it more during qualifying, when you can use DRS whenever you want) but learning how to use them properly will be important. The game could have done a better job educating players on the use of these tools but, admittedly, F1 2011 is not really designed with non-F1 fans in mind.

Multiplayer now supports up to 16 players (along with eight AI bots for a full field). Like DiRT 3 Codemasters Birmingham has also rediscovered splitscreen, and there's also an online co-op feature where two players can race for the same team. This remains untested, but this new mode has a huge amount of potential. The dynamic of working together with a friend to clinch a constructor's title while simultaneously trying to beat him or her to the driver's trophy sounds hugely appealing.

If we had to be critical of the career mode, the area of the game designed to be milked the most, we'd say it's still quite sterile. It's just like F1 2010, adequate yet kind of unfulfilling. You kick off your career with one of the minnow teams, competing for scraps at the back of the pack. The more team objectives you successfully meet the more you'll increase your reputation and, in turn, your chances of scoring a gig with the champion outfits later on. It all works but it lacks a bit of personality. Hanging around a team trailer checking emails between races isn't high on the sort of drama or passion we connect with Formula 1. On the track Codemasters has things nailed. Off it, things could be a little more engaging. We're not really after something as gripping as Fight Night Champion, just something with a little more character.

Pictured: The reason windscreen wipers were invented.

Visually speaking it also doesn't quite stand up to the sort of scrutiny the screenshots may lead you to believe. The tracks look good, but they're definitely designed to be seen whipping by as a blur, not examined close up. They're excellent facsimiles of the real things but they just seem to lack a little nuance. The game actually looks its best in the wet rather than under full sun.

The game also struggles to deal with accidents. They look realistic enough at speed but in slow-motion things are a little sketchy. One moment you'll be admiring how sliding into wall, nose first, has convincingly sheared the front wing off when suddenly you notice the rear of your car has vanished below ground level. Crashes involving large packs of cars are a little underwhelming too; spearing into the bedlam of the first corner at Monaco we noted rogue cars will become transparent when it suits the game. They're minor gripes, though. The effect they have on the racing itself is minimal.

The best way to describe F1 2011 is as an assault. It assaults your vision with corners that are gobbled up beneath your car faster than you can blink. It assaults your ears with the authentic banshee-like shrieking of F1 racing. It assaults your reflexes with split-second race-breaking moments. You don't have time to think; just act. F1 2011 places you on a ragged edge where to relax is to crash. At the end of a race – whether you've shrewdly held off the pack for the win, battled your way into the points or fought valiantly for position lower down the field – a pair of gnarled hands and a sweaty controller may be your only real reward, but the sense of accomplishment runs far deeper.

The Verdict

Most of F1 2011’s problems only come to light when you kick over one too many rocks or you prod it too hard. Examine the environments close-up or grief the collision system by harpooning your way into clumps of competitors and, yes, the illusion will be temporarily shattered. Play it properly, however, and F1 2011 is an incredibly satisfying experience. Difficult and draining, but ultimately extremely rewarding. Few, if any, other racing games can truly match its intensity.